STATE PAPERS. 



517 



burnt, their wdmcn atrociously 

 violated, and those whose age or 

 sex did not provoke the brutal vio- 

 lence of the soldiers, have fallen 

 victims totheimprudentconfidence 

 which they placed in promises 

 made only to be broken. 



The Portuguese must now see, 

 that no other means remain to 

 avoid the evils with which they 

 are threatened, but a determined 

 and vigorous resistance, and a firm 

 resolution to obstruct as much as 

 possible the advance of the enemy 

 into the interior of the kingdom, 

 by removing out of his reach all 

 such things as may contribute to 

 his subsistence, or facilitate his 

 progress. These are the only and 

 most certain means to prevent the 

 evils with which the country is 

 threatened. The army under my 

 command will protect as large 

 a portion of the country as is 

 possible; but it is obvious that 

 the people alone can deliver 

 themselves by a vigorous resist- 

 ance, and preserve their goods by 

 removing them out of the reach of 

 the enemy. The duties, therefore, 

 that bind me to his royal highness 

 the prince regent of Portugal, and 

 to the Portuguese nation, oblige 

 me to make use of the power and 

 authority with which I am fur- 

 nished, to compel the careless and 

 indolent to make the necessary 

 efforts to preserve themselves from 

 the dangers which threaten them, 

 and to save their country. In con- 

 formity with this I make known 

 and declare that all magistrates 

 and persons in authority, who 

 shall remain in the villages or 

 towns, after having received orders 

 from the military officer to remove 

 from them, and all persons, of 

 whatever class they may be, who 

 shall maintain the least comrau- 



nication with, or aid and assist in 

 any manner, the enemy shall be 

 considered as traitors to the 

 slate, and tried and punished as 

 such an enormous crime re- 

 quires. NVellington. 

 Head-quarters, Aug. 4. 



IV. RUSSIA. 



Decree, or Ukiixe, relative to the 

 Finances of Russia, February 2, 

 ISIO. 



All the bank assignats (the 

 paper money of the country) now 

 in circulation, are once more 

 declared to form part of the 

 national debt, and guaranteed by 

 all the wealth of the empire. From 

 the present moment the bank 

 assignats shall receive no increase 

 In order to pay the national debt, 

 a loan shall be opened in the 

 interior of the country at fixed 

 prices. In order to provide for all 

 expenses, and to reduce the taxes 

 to their former stale, it is ordered, 

 provisionally, for the present year, 

 and until the publicationof general 

 regulations for the finances and 

 taxes, that the following additional 

 imposts shall take place : — 



An increase of 2 rubles a-head 

 on the crown peasantry. 



Animpost of 3, 2i,and2 rubles, 

 according to the various govern- 

 ments, on the peasantry occupied 

 in cultivating thelandsof the state. 



Citizens employed in the arts, 

 and other branches of public 

 industry, shall pay 5 rubles. 



Countrymen trading in both 

 capitals shall pay for every shop 

 100, 50, and 25 rubles, according 

 to localities, and besides those of 

 the 2nd guilde, I5 per cent, of the 

 capital they have declared them- 



